The French aristocrat who bought his own boat to fight the British

If you find yourself standing in Lafayette Square, you are looking at an 11-foot bronze French aristocrat. In 1777, the Continental Congress lacked funds to provide him with a vessel to reach the colonies, so the Marquis de Lafayette purchased the ship Victoire himself.

Lafayette was a French military officer who became the only surviving hero of the American Revolution. He enlisted 6,000 soldiers from France and participated in the Siege of Yorktown. He also co-wrote the first draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with Thomas Jefferson.

After the revolution, he spent five years in prison for defending King Louis XVI during the Day of Daggers. He eventually returned to the U.S. in 1824 at the invitation of James Monroe, touring all of the states.

Now, his statue sits on a French marble pedestal designed by Paul Pujol. It is part of a monument that includes seven additional bronze statues, all larger than life size. The statue is a contributing property to the L'Enfant Plan and the Lafayette Square Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons